Tolkien estate blocks ‘Lord of the Rings’ cryptocurrency
A US cryptocurrency developer has been blocked from operating a "Lord of the Rings" digital token after JRR Tolkien’s estate took action.
The estate, which manages the late fantasy author’s property, reached a settlement with Matthew Jensen, the Florida-based developer of the digital currency at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre.
Tolkien’s estate said that it had now recovered the JRRToken.com domain name and an undertaking from Jensen to stop all operations under the JRR Token name and delete any infringing content from all relevant websites and social media accounts.
Steven Maier, solicitor for the Tolkien estate, said: “The Tolkien estate is vigilant in preventing unauthorised parties from taking advantage of the JRR Tolkien name and the content of JRR Tolkien’s literary works.
“This was a particularly flagrant case of infringement and the estate is pleased that it has been concluded on satisfactory terms.”
‘The one token that rules them all’
The estate’s complaint against JRR Token was filed with WIPO in August this year, just days after Jensen allegedly began marketing and offering for sale digital tokens.
At the time of WIPO’s decision, the website at the disputed domain name (jrrtoken.com) resolved to a website at
According to the estate, Jensen had registered the domain name in the knowledge of the estate’s trademarks and “with the intention of taking unfair commercial advantage of the enormous goodwill attaching to them”.
In response, Jensen argued that the term “token” is generic, so the estate doesn’t hold an exclusive monopoly on that term and that the use of the phrase “The One Token That Rules Them All”, which references the famous phrase “One ring to rule them all”, produces a “humorous difference in order to invoke the desired effect of a parody”.
WIPO’s administrative panel sided with the estate, finding that there was “no doubt” that Jensen was aware of Tolkien’s works and created a website to trade off the fame of these works.
In late September, the panel ordered that the disputed domain name
Since then, the Tolkien estate has recovered the domain name and obtained the undertaking from Jensen. According to reports, Jensen has also paid the estate’s legal costs for an undisclosed sum.
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